The current scenario of the COVID-19 pandemic has forced dentists to prepare themselves by updating their knowledge and receive training to face the present and after effects of COVID-19. The present survey was thus conducted to assess the knowledge, risk perception, attitude, and preparedness of the dentists in India about COVID-19. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was carried out among registered dentists in India. A self-administered, anonymous, questionnaire comprising of 25 closeended questions was circulated to gather the relevant information. A total of 765 dentists submitted a response, out of which 646 complete responses were included in the statistical analysis. Pearson's Chi-square test was used for inter-group statistical comparison. Results: The majority (80.8%) of the dentists had a fair knowledge about the characteristics of COVID-19. Nearly 60.7% and 49.7% of the dentists had taken infection control training and special training for COVID-19, respectively. Nearly 50% of the dentists had the perception that COVID-19 is very dangerous. Only 41.8% of the dentists were willing to provide emergency services to patients. Most of the dentists had an opinion that there is a need to enhance personal protective measures. During the survey, it was found that varied technological advances are offered to dentists to ensure good clinical practice. They also concurred that there was a need to standardize the tools and measures available to carry out dental practices. Conclusion: In the present study, Indian dentists have presented satisfactory knowledge with adequate preparedness as the majority of them had a fair level of knowledge with significantly higher knowledge among female respondents and those with post-graduation studies. Dentists should make judicious utilization of all the precautionary measures to safely practice dentistry. As we are going through an evolutionary phase where new advances are expected to evolve, dentists will definitely emerge successfully out from the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: Diabetes is a major challenge for a resource-limited country like India. Majority of the patients are diagnosed late in the course of illness with presence of complications. There is limited data on diabetes from rural India. Present study is an attempt to provide data on diabetes in rural India. The overall objective of present study was to estimate the prevalence of Type 2 diabetes mellitus in rural population above 25 years age in district Etawah and neighbouring areas of Uttar Pradesh, India.Methods: The study was planned to determine the prevalence of diabetes mellitus in rural community by health camp and door to door approach. Fasting capillary blood glucose was first determined using a glucose meter (SD check code free, SD biosensor Inc. Korea). All the adults were given 75gm of glucose dissolved in 200ml water which was drunk over a period of up to 5 minutes and the 2-hour post load capillary blood glucose was estimated. Diabetic status was confirmed by taking blood samples for fasting and postprandial blood sugar levels in a fluoride vacutainer. Fasting plasma glucose ≥126mg/dl and or 2-hour postprandial glucose ≥200mg/dl were taken as the diagnostic criteria for diagnosis.Results: Prevalence of type 2 diabetes in the rural population was found to be 8.03%. Prevalence was higher in female population (9.91%) as compared to males (6.79%). 19.74 % of participants over 70 yrs of age were diabetics while diabetes was present only in 2.95% of participants in the age group of 25-39 year. The maximum number of diabetes were in the age group of 50-59 years. 10.04 % of participants were diagnosed to be Prediabetics. 35.77% of the diabetics were newly diagnosed.Conclusions:Present study shows there is high prevalence of type 2 diabetes in rural area of western Uttar Pradesh, India.

Background: Prevalence of non-communicable diseases like hypertension, diabetes mellitus and coronary artery disease is on the rise due to the change in lifestyle, unfavourable dietary habits and obesity. Metabolic syndrome is a simple tool by which we can predict the future risk of diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease. Studies showed that prevalence of metabolic syndrome is rising in Indian population, but majority of them were done in urban population. This study was conducted to look into the current status of the metabolic syndrome in rural population.Methods: The study was conducted among a population of 2982. Each participant was subjected to clinical examination, anthropometric measurements and necessary laboratory investigations. Metabolic syndrome was diagnosed based on modified NCEP: ATP III criteria.Results: The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was found to be 11.7% and was higher among female population (13.8%) as compared to males (9.6%). The prevalence of metabolic syndrome increased with increasing age. 28.3% of the participants over the age of 50 years had metabolic syndrome whereas it was only 0.4% below the age of 20 years. Nearly half (47.1%) of the obese individuals were suffering from metabolic syndrome implicating obesity as one of the most important risk factors in the etiopathogenesis of metabolic syndrome. The prevalence was only 1.1% among the underweight group.Conclusions: Present study has shown moderate prevalence of metabolic syndrome among the rural population of Western Uttar Pradesh, India with a more female predisposition.

Tropical endomyocardial fibrosis is the commonest form of endemic restrictive cardiomyopathy that affects mainly children and adolescents, and is geographically restricted to some poor areas in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world such as Africa, Latin America and Asia including southern districts of India especially in the coastal belt of Kerala state. Sub-endocardial fibrosis affecting the apices and the inflow tracts of the right or left ventricle, or both; and varying degree of atrioventricular valve regurgitation defines the disease. Chronic systemic venous hypertension and severe pulmonary hypertension are characteristic features of right ventricular and Left ventricular endomyocardial fibrosis respectively. Due to lack of resources for research in the disease endemic areas, the exact epidemiology, etiology and pathogenesis remain unknown, and the natural history is incompletely understood. Various infections and toxic factors were postulated regarding its etiology. During the last few years, incidence of the disease has decreased considerably because of the significant improvement in the living standards of the people with the corresponding decline in the childhood malnutrition, infections, worm infestations and associated eosinophilia. It is a condition with high morbidity and mortality, for which no effective therapy is available. However, surgical management improves the natural history of this disease to some extent. We have conducted a systematic review of the most intriguing aspects of epidemiology, natural history, clinical picture and management of endomyocardial fibrosis, proposing new ways to increase research into this challenging and neglected cardiovascular disease. We relied primarily on articles in the MEDLINE database with either ''endomyocardial fibrosis'' or ''endomyocardial sclerosis'' in the title.

Background: Most of the studies on hypertension provided the data on older age group. Most of the times, younger population remains unaddressed as they are assumed to be at a lower risk of developing the disease. So, the study on prevalence of hypertension among younger age group and their socio-demographic variables provides the guide for requirements of any intervention. Objective of present study is to estimate the prevalence of Hypertension among young adults in a rural population of central India.Methods: We collected data on socio-demographic characteristics and hypertension status from 1061 subjects aged 18–40 years. Relevant clinical parameters were collected (blood pressure recordings and anthropometric measurements).Results: Hypertension was detected in 188 of the 1061 subjects (17.7%). Prevalence among men was higher (18.8% compared to 15.2% among women). A total of 40.2% of the subjects was found to have pre-hypertension. Higher prevalence of hypertension was seen among those with a history of smoking.Conclusions: Most of the young adults with raised blood pressure were previously undiagnosed. A large number of subjects had prehypertension. Their early identification facilitates early, active management of blood pressure and formulation of preventive strategies thereby decreasing morbidity and mortality due to cardiovascular diseases and hypertension.